Angel of Venice
by AureliaMerula
Summary: Dogtown, 1977: Riding the wave of success is easier for some ZBoys than it is for others. Is all the fame and fortune worth the fractured relationships? Some are about to learn the answer the hard way.
1. And so it begins

**And So It Begins…**

New Year's Eve, 1977

_A house in Bel-Air_

"Hey, this room's empty, let's go in here."

"Ok. Man, I still can't believe I'm doing this."

"C'mon baby, you know you want it as bad as I do. Where's the light switch…got it."

"Aw crap, this isn't a bedroom. It's like an office or something. Shit."

"Well, it'll have to do, all the other rooms are taken. Unless you wanna kick Red Dog and Rosie outta that last one."

"Uh, no. I wanna live to see the dawn. Hmm, how are we gonna make it in here?"

"Hey, how 'bout the closet? Check it out, it's the walk-in kind. It even has a light."

"Jesus, this thing's bigger than my entire bedroom! Close the door and nobody even has to know we're in here."

"Right on. Hey, grab that fur coat there in the back and we can lie on that."

"Well, you sure know how to do it in style, man!"

_Ten minutes later_

"Mm, nice."

"Ya like that?"

"The way you do it, yeah."

"Hah! You sound surprised."

"Well, I am, kinda."

"Didn't think I had it in me, huh?"

"No. Didn't think I'd ever have it in me, either."

"Ooh, you're a dirty girl. But that's what I like about ya. So um, you ready?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

"I – uh – guess not. Ok, well…"

_Another ten minutes later_

"Damn. You were fuckin' awesome."

"Yeah, so were you. For a first-timer, anyway."

"…"

"I mean, it was your first time, right?"

"How could you know that? Aw fuck, was I that bad? Shit!"

"Nah, you weren't bad. But when it's the _guy_ asking 'is it in?' then that's usually a dead giveaway, ya know?"

"Aw maaann! I coulda sworn I was there…oh well, it's how ya finish the job that counts, right?"

"You know it. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"Better not! Shit, you better fuckin' not! I'll never live it down with the team. They all think I've been porkin' chicks since I was fifteen."

"It's cool, I won't tell anyone. Long as you treat me right, ya dig?"

"Just gimme a chance and I'll treat you great. I've been likin' you for a long time and I uh, wanna see you again."

"Oh yeah? Well, we can probably swing that. You're pretty sweet when you're not being a little loudmouth rat."

"Heeyyyy, even _little rats_ have their good sides…So um, have you been with many guys before me?"

"You mean this weekend?"

silence

"Dude, that was a joke."

"Fuck, I hope so."

"Hey, chill. No, I haven't been with a lot of guys. I know what people say about me, that I've done everyone in Dogtown, but that's a bunch of jealous kooks talking, you know it is. I don't even know why you felt the need to ask."

"Just wanted to hear it from you, I guess. Hope your brother's cool with us…uh, going out and stuff."

"Shit, he doesn't care and anyway, he's not my keeper. And anyway, you're one of his best friends, so why would he mind? Unless you're planning on just screwin' me and then bailing or something."

"No way! I like you way too much to do that, Kathy."

"Well, I like you too, Jay."

"Cool. So uh, wanna do it again?"

"Do it again…c'mon, do it again…"

"Ha! Oh god, don't start singing that song. Soul music sucks."

"I love that song. Soul music is awesome. It's disco that sucks."

"All the same to me, man. If it's not Rock then I got no use for it."

"Well, are we gonna talk about music or are we gonna get it on before people come looking for us?"

"Awrite, let's get it on! And don't start singing that song, either."

**Author's Note:** Well, I'm back. waves 'Angel of Venice' is not going to be as long as 'Wishing…' but since Jay got kinda shortchanged in that one, I thought I'd give him a story of his own. 'Angel…" is very roughly based on some real-life incidents that actually happened to Jay in the 80s but I decided to start it in 1977 just to give it some continuity with the movie and because I can, dammit! lol

Enjoy, and please r&r if you feel like it.


	2. Chapter 2: Hello again, my surf ghetto

**Chapter 1 – Hello again, my surf ghetto**

_April 1977_

"Hey, Jayboy! Back in town, huh?" The high-pitched female voice cutting across the asphalt parking lot made Jay skid to a sudden tailstop as he scanned around looking for the source.

"Nah, I'm still in Hawaii. What you're seeing is just a figment of your imagination, Blanca," he shot back with a tight smile as he recognized the girl who had interrupted his ride to the beach.

Unfazed, his distracter quipped, "Doubt that. If were my imagination at work then I would have dreamed up someone way cuter than you." Her facial expression belied her sarcastic tone as she stepped up for a quick hug, which Jay naturally turned into a mock headlock. Blanca, no stranger to his roughhousing, deftly twisted free and aimed a kick at his shin with a suede moccasin. "Yeah well, glad to see you too, ratso," she told him as he jumped backward to get out of range.

Jay regained his stance and popped the kicktail of his Z-Flex deck hard onto the pavement with one toe so the nose flew up into his left hand. "I'm lookin' for my woman," he informed Blanca, who folded her arms over the front of her white Mexican peasant blouse and assumed a cryptic look.

"She's around. Last I saw she was headed for the breakwater with Billy, Red Dog and Paul. Bunch of guys surfing there today." At the mention of the second name Jay's expression hardened almost imperceptibly, but Blanca noticed nonetheless and suppressed a tiny smile.

"Huh. She wasn't hanging around Re- uh, those guys a lot while I was gone, was she?" he blurted out, his cocky façade withering in the face of his uncertainty.

This time Blanca couldn't resist flashing a quick grin, obviously amused by the way she'd disconcerted the normally insuppressible Z-Boy with a casual quip. "I dunno. You'll have to ask her, won't ya?" The look she got for that was black and a lesser soul would have instinctively taken a couple of steps backward, but Blanca held her ground.

"Well, she better not have been screwin' around on me," Jay growled as he dropped the nose of his board back on the ground and prepared to jump on it.

"Hey, why don't you give her the benefit of the doubt?" Blanca suggested in a light tone, partially letting him off the hook – but only for a second. "I mean, just 'cause she went to Red Dog's party alone doesn't mean anything, ya know?"

But Jay refused to take the bait. "Whatever, Blanca," was his only reply before he pushed off and resumed his oceanward trek, the sound of her catty laughter fading away behind him. "Chola bitch," he muttered disgustedly, his eyes narrowed to near-slits as he stared into the middle distance, hardly seeing the pavement for the angry, disjointed thoughts in his head.

"Who's a chola bitch? Not me, I hope," another female voice rang out and interrupted his progress again. He whipped his head to the right and saw the object of his search leaning against a faded brown Jeep, her wind-blown wavy hair half-obscuring her tanned face.

"Kathy baby! I been lookin' for ya," Jay exclaimed as he stepped off his skateboard and caught her up in his arms in a bear hug that half-lifted her off her sneaker-clad feet.

"So who's a chola bitch?" she inquired again after he let her go and stooped to tuck his board under one arm.

"Oh, not you," he hastened to reassure her. "Fuckin' Blanca. We ran into each other a minute ago-"

"Hope you didn't knock her down too hard," Kathy cut in jokingly. At Jay's blank look she elucidated. "You know, when you ran into each other. Joke, Jay!"

He shook his blonde head and rolled his eyes. "Hah. Yeah, I wish I'd knocked her bitchy ass down."

"Geez, such hostility! Since when do you got a problem with Blanca?" Kathy inquired, her light brown eyebrows knitting over her similarly-shaded almond eyes.

Without missing a beat, Jay snapped back, "Since she implied that you might be messin' with Muir. And it's not the first time she's brought it up, either."

At this admission Kathy's eyebrows unknitted, but flew up her smooth forehead. "Muir? Red Dog? No, that's totally not true. We hung out a little bit the two times you went to Hawaii, but not like, _together_ hanging out, ya know?" Jay stayed silent, gauging her tone for sincerity. She continued. "I went to a party of his last week but we were never alone or anything like that. Ask my brother if you don't believe me. He was there the whole time."

"Yeah, and probably too high to remember anything," Jay shot back, but in a mollified voice.

Kathy gave a short relieved laugh. "Hey, you know Tony. But he wasn't that out of it." She stepped closer to Jay as her face and voice both assumed a softer note. "Jay, come on. You know I wouldn't step out on ya while you're out of town."

Slightly crestfallen at his momentary display of weakness, he gave her a smug smile. "Of course I know, babe. Just fuckin' with ya."

Kathy gave him another skeptical raised-eyebrow look but forbore a reply in favor of turning her face toward the nearby ocean. She was wearing tiny white shorts and a pale yellow tank top embroidered with pink and red roses, beneath which she was going braless. As he subtly checked out her unbound curves Jay found himself getting turned on and quickly shifted his skateboard so it covered the front of his jeans. Her gaze still focused in the direction of the beach, Kathy didn't notice any of it. "So are you going to go back and get your surfboard or what? The waves are pretty good today."

Reluctantly Jay tore his stare from his girlfriend's frame and squinted toward the west even though the sunshine was milky and diluted from the high but thick haze of clouds above. "Yeah, guess so, but after comin' back from the North Shore even the good surf here just seems so weak, ya know?"

"I wouldn't _know_ the difference exactly, but maybe I'll find out firsthand someday," Kathy shot back, giving Jay a subtly pleading look from under her long lashes.

He fell for it and his features turned from peeved to wistful as a stray breeze blew a sun-streaked streamer of hair across his face. He brushed it away, then stepped closer to place one hand on Kathy's hip. "I'll take you with me next time if you really wanna go," he promised.

"Yeah, I wanna go. But isn't it expensive to fly out?"

He shook his head and frowned a bit. "Nah, it's not too bad. I'll just enter a few more contests or do an ad in Skateboarder or something. Nothin' to it."

She raised her eyebrows skeptically, but the rest of her face betrayed her delight. "That would be awesome, Jay. If you make it happen I'll…"

"Do me on the beach at Pipeline?" he cut in with a leer, causing Kathy to bark with laughter and slug his shoulder with a balled-up fist.

"You horndog," she growled, but with a sly wink to show she wasn't exactly down on the idea.

Jay grinned proudly as he rubbed the spot that Kathy had just hit. "I am a horndog, s'what you love about me, baby," he boasted, then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. "Now you got me thinkin' about sex instead of surfing, so how 'bout we both go to my place and catch up. If the waves are still going afterward then I'll surf."

"Such a romantic," Kathy quipped as she rolled her eyes but didn't try to move out of his grasp. Sensing her hesitation, Jay pressed his forehead to hers briefly, then lifted her chin with one finger and placed a kiss on her mouth.

"I really did miss you and I really was a good girl while you were gone," she assured him.

"Yeah well, I was a good boy in the Islands too," he assured her.

Kathy's eyes met his, searchingly. "You didn't have to be, ya know."

"I know," he answered as his gaze slid toward the cracked pavement. "But still…I was. 'Cause…you know…" his voice trailed off awkwardly.

To his relief Kathy picked up the conversational thread with a casual laugh. "Yeah, because you were probably way too busy surfing all day to even notice chicks," she said with a grin that wrinkled her lightly freckled nose.

"Actually, that's true," he replied honestly as he pushed his hair back from his face. "Man, it was goin' off the whole time we were there. Surfing my fuckin' guts out every day."

"So even if I had been there you would have ignored me, huh?" she teased with one uplifted eyebrow.

He grinned again. "Not once the sun went down. After it gets dark there isn't a lot to do there except drink and f– "

"Yeah, I get the picture," Kathy cut in with a little toss of her wavy mane.

Impatiently Jay grabbed one of her hands with his free one and started to pull her in the direction of his house. "So c'mon, we're wasting time that we could be using to catch up, ya know?" he urged, his voice laced with impatience and lust.

Kathy dug her heels into the pavement and laughed, showing small pearl-like teeth. "Chill out, it's only been a few weeks! You act like it's been five years or something."

"It _felt_ like five fuckin' years, not gettin' any action," he moaned, trying for the sympathy ploy.

"World's tiniest violin," Kathy smirked as she rubbed her index finger across her thumb in the classic mocking gesture. But at the look of genuine frustration on her teenage paramour's face, she relented and slipped her soft hand into his ocean-roughened one. "What the hell, the waves will probably blow out soon anyway and I'm sick of looking at those other guys' faces, so let's bail this joint and go back to your place," she quipped, giving him a kittenish grin that made him readjust the position of his skateboard so she couldn't see the direct evidence of his arousal with a sidewise glance. Still, she seemed to sense his desire and cruelly decided to make the three-block walk back to his apartment a painful one: "And then you can show me just how much you missed me these past few weeks."


	3. Chapter 3: Shine It On

**Chapter 3: Shine It On**

_Summer 1977_

Upland Skatepark, Upland CA

"Man, look at all the people here today," Kathy half-muttered, her voice barely audible over the random shouts of the crowd filling the stands and the music blaring over the PA.

Still, Jay heard her and fired a quick grin back over his shoulder in her direction. "You and Blanca try to find someplace to sit and watch the action. I gotta sign in and warm up in the bowl over to the left of this one," he informed them before moving away from the crowd, his favorite yellow Z-Flex board tucked under one arm and a white helmet dangling from his other elbow.

Kathy watched his blue shorts-clad form as he strode off until he was swallowed up by the milling throng of skaters and onlookers, then turned to Blanca. "C'mon, let's find a good spot and kick whoever's already there out of it," she suggested, only half-jokingly.

"Considering that we're with the two most bad-assed skaters here, I say we get to sit where ever we want," Blanca crowed with a smirk.

"You know it," Kathy agreed with a smug smile of her own as they turned to the nearest bleachers. Fortunately they were able to find an open space in the third row with a fine view of the bowl where the contest would be held, and didn't have to send any unsuspecting victims away in disgrace. Blanca almost looked disappointed at not being able to throw her weight around, as though she needed the practice.

Kathy pulled her shades down over her dark eyes as the mid-afternoon sun was starting to descend far enough to shine directly in their faces, then scanned the area. The perimeter of the deep coping-edged bowl was delineated by a narrow walkway, behind which was a tall railing which kept the watching crowd contained. The railing's entire length was festooned with a variety of large advertisement banners for various skate teams and products. Most of the competitors had staked out sections in the first or second rows in order to better scope out the people they were up against. Kathy spotted the G&S team first, resplendent in their bright yellow and orange jerseys. Standing amongst his teammates, Stacy Peralta was particularly easy to pick out thanks to his distinctive straight blonde mane. She thought he might have been looking her way and started to throw him a tentative wave, but dropped her hand as his head suddenly turned the other direction. Several yards away the Alva team was just settling in to their spot but her brother's trademark curly mop wasn't visible. Blanca seemed to notice this at about the same time. "Where's my man at?" she queried, straining to pick him out in the crowd.

"Probably still warming up at the other bowl. Don't get your panties in a bunch," she chided her anxious friend.

"I just don't wanna see him gettin' hit on by any more stupid Val chicks," Blanca growled. "Gettin' sick of that shit."

Kathy shrugged. "Comes with the territory when you get famous. Jay gets his share of groupies coming up to him too. I just laugh it off 'cause I know he's going home with me at the end of the day."

Blanca sneered. "Yeah, bad as it is for Jayboy, it's a million times worse with Tony, especially since he started his own skateboard company, ya know?"

Kathy had to admit Blanca was right. "I think a lot of girls are intimidated by Jay, to be honest."

"But not you," observed Blanca, brows raised suggestively.

"Nah, never me," Kathy murmured as she smiled in Mona Lisa-like fashion. Before she could elucidate further her attention was distracted as she noticed Stacy and one of his teammates walking along the pool deck. Just as they were about to pass the spot where the girls were sitting, the two G&S riders were accosted by a dark-haired younger skater in a navy blue shirt with "Pipeline Skate Team" emblazoned in white across the back. The conversation which ensued was just audible to overhear:

"Awrite, Stacy! Blackhart!" the kid enthused, dropping his skateboard to the deck in order to shake their hands. "How's it goin'?"

"Hey…Steve, right? Local Upland kid," Stacy replied immediately, receiving an enthusiastic nod from the younger guy. "Got on the Pipeline team, huh?" Another nod from the kid. "Right on, I knew you'd make a team sooner or later. So you stoked about the contest today?"

Steve's darkly attractive features suddenly took on a more hangdog expression. "I was…until I saw Jay Adams warming up just now. Jeez, I may as well drop out – he's gonna kick all our asses. I swear, Strople's about to _cry _right now," the kid concluded despondently as he scowled down at his tennis shoes. Kathy and Blanca shot each other wordless but amused glances.

Without hesitation Stacy threw back his head and laughed at the cloudless sky. "Hey, don't worry about Jay or any other skater here. Just get in that bowl and give it all ya got. And even if you don't place, at least you know you went down swinging. There's no shame in that, man."

Upon hearing this measured counsel Steve brightened a bit. "Yeah, maybe so but…dude, you should see the gnarly moves Jay's pulling off over there! He's getting _upside down_ and shit! Even TA's just standing there watching him. Fuck…" his voice trailed off as his confidence began to flag again.

This time both the G&S members laughed and Stacy clapped Steve on one sagging shoulder. "Like I said, don't sweat it. Just have a good time and if nothing else, watch and learn."

"Yeah, try to have some fun," Blackhart chimed in. "And besides, we saw ya skating those pools last summer and you were great then, so you got nothing to worry about."

Steve's eyes flew open, wide as silver dollars. "You guys remember that?" he asked in amazement.

"'Course we do," Stacy assured him. "How could we not? You showed us where they were. And ya got over the stairs and the lights, so we were impressed. So don't worry, ok?" He cuffed the kid on the shoulder once again and then he and his teammate were off.

Once they were all out of earshot the girls cracked up. "That Stacy, sooo Zen," Kathy observed as her shoulders shook with mirth.

"Yeah, and sooo fine, too. Hey, how come you and him never…?"

"What, dated?" Kathy finished her unspoken question. "Ah, he is hot and all that, but he's always gone for girls who were…not really Dogtown."

Blanca nodded understandingly. "Ya know, you're right. He's always kinda avoided the true DT chicas the whole time we've known him. Especially after his chick got stabbed at the Civic last year, remember that? He hardly hangs out in Dogtown now."

Kathy shook her head disgustedly. "Of course I remember the stabbing. Tony and I helped break it up. Crazy shit, ese. Wonder what happened to that chick anyways?"

"I dunno," Blanca replied with a shrug. "She's not here today anyway, I don't think."

Kathy squinted in the direction of the G&S team's section. "Seems like Stacy never brings his girlfriends out to events like this," she observed in a quiet voice.

"Yeah well, if your girlfriends had a habit of getting knifed in public, you'd keep them under lock and key too," Blanca shot back bitingly. At that quip Kathy merely shook her head again. Then she spotted her brother walking into the Combi-bowl area and quickly stood up to wave him down, glad for a reason to abandon the current line of conversation.

"I can't really talk," Tony shouted to them as he got closer. "They're going to start the contest in a few minutes."

"That's cool, rip it up, bro," Kathy called back.

Blanca pushed her way unheedingly between the two people standing on the front row of their bleacher and leaned over the railing to give Tony a kiss. "For luck, like Leia said in Star Wars," she told her longtime paramour. The film in question had been in theatres less than a month but most of the Dogtown regulars had already been to see it several times and never missed an opportunity to work in a quote whenever it was relevant.

Tony gave her a dismissive half-wave. "Pff, who needs luck? I got this one locked down," he boasted before striding off to meet the rest of his team. Looking a bit put out, Blanca returned to her seat and put her hands on her curvy hips with a small pout.

"Let it go, he's getting into contest mode," Kathy advised her longtime friend. "Hey look, isn't that Craig Stecyk taking pictures over there?" she suddenly blurted out, eager to distract Blanca before she could start to bitch.

The ploy worked, sort of. "Yeah, that's him," Blanca replied, a residual frown still pulling down the corners of her shapely mouth.

"ALL SKATERS NEED TO REPORT TO THE COMBI BOWL IMMEDIATELY" came the announcement over the PA. In no time the pool deck was seething with riders as they hurried to find their teammates and pulled on helmets and pads. Jay hustled past and threw them a quick wave before trading a few high-fives with some younger fans who were about to fall over the railing in their effort to get his attention. A minute later the contest began. First up in the initial heat were the Pipeline team. Kathy noted with satisfaction that Steve, who appeared to be one of the youngest members, really did skate well. "I think maybe Stacy has an eye for talent," she quipped to Blanca as the teenager finished up with a 180 power slide that would have been extremely impressive had he pulled it off.

After him, a few more non-LA riders took their turns, then the first Dogtowner of the day – Tony Alva – got his shot. His run was short but nearly flawless, eliciting a huge roar from the crowd and raising the bar for those who had to follow him. A few riders with Tunnel, Pipeline and Alva went, then Stacy took a run filled with 360s and cess slides, which instantly put him in the top three. Shortly afterward his G&S teammate Rick Blackhart began his run with a roll-in, rather than the usual drop-in, getting the first big standing ovation of the day. The rest of his performance was adequate enough to put him in fourth after Stacy.

And then it was Jay's turn. Word of his amazing practice runs had obviously been making the rounds. As his name was announced the energy around the pool increased palpably as most of the watching crowd instinctively leaned forward a bit more, eager to see what the fiery blonde had up his sleeve. Without even realizing it, Kathy held her breath and dug her nails into the hem of her denim shorts, watching intently as her boyfriend dropped in.

He sailed smoothly down the steep wall then tore across the bottom of the bowl and up the opposite transition like greased lightning. At the top of the far wall he crouched low as though he was about to try something, but merely let his board roll backward back down the wall and back up the side he'd dropped in on. As his back wheels hit the coping, he repeated the entire maneuver again as the tension surrounding the onlookers built exponentially with every second of Jay's run, making Kathy want to scream in frustration instead of hooting and calling out his name like she and everyone else had been doing. "C'mon, do something different," she snarled through gritted teeth.

On his third trip back down the roundwall, Jay granted her request even though there was no way he could have heard her. As he crossed the bottom of the bowl he deliberately, almost casually bailed, causing his board to fly out of the bowl and narrowly miss slamming into the startled Pipeline team, all of whom ducked as they threw up their arms to protect their faces. If Kathy hadn't been so startled herself she would have laughed at their uniform reaction.

Instantly the crowd got silent. Even the announcer, who up to that point had been glibly reporting each skater's every move, seemed too taken aback to say anything at first. Then he composed himself and lifted the microphone to his mustachioed mouth: "Well, looks like an abbreviated run from Jay Adams. Guess the judges will uh…scratch that one. Ok. First run of two will not be scored." As he spoke Jay climbed out of the bowl, collected his board, and slipped away between the bleachers.

"There's no way he can win now," Blanca muttered, her slightly Mexican-accented voice rich with disappointment. Her feeling seemed to be shared by most of the onlookers. The Alva guys, to a man, were frowning. The Pipeline team seemed let down. The G&S team mostly looked either baffled or amused except for Stacy who looked studious. Kathy thought she saw him trade a knowing look with Craig Stecyk but she wasn't sure. She managed to catch her brother's eye and he merely shrugged, then left the bleachers to prepare for his second run. Tony and Stecyk came together for a quick chat just within earshot of the girls.

"Well well, another sublime performance in Jay's Theater of Anything Goes," Stecyk declared in his usual enigmatic tone.

"Yeah. And after all that hype about his warm-up session. Nobody was expecting this, huh?" Kathy couldn't tell if her brother was being sarcastic or not, but his statement raised her hackles just the same.

The older man gave a short bark of a laugh. "He was over it before he even did it."

Unable to stay out of it, Kathy leaned forward and snagged the shoulder of her brother's red Alva t-shirt. "Just what the _hell_ was that anyway?" she demanded.

"That was Jay Adams," Tony and Stecyk replied in unison.

"Not funny, guys," Kathy muttered.

"We weren't trying to be, just stating a fact," Tony blithely shot back.

His sister gave him a dark look. "I gotta find him." She gathered her purse and began to leave.

"I'll hold down our spots," Blanca suggested, and got a vague noise of agreement from Kathy.

It took her a few minutes to make her way around the edge of the Combi-bowl and slip between the bleachers she'd seen Jay go through, but eventually she got away from the people who wanted to chat and found herself alone a few yards from the smaller bowl the skaters had been using to warm up in. Jay was skating there alone, still helmeted and padded up, attempting what Kathy guessed was the upside down move she'd heard the kid Steve rave about. If the judges were able to see what she was seeing, they would have handed him the first-place trophy on the spot. She circumnavigated the lip of the pool and met him on the far side as he rolled back out. For a moment they just stood there without touching, just regarding each other. Jay looked like he expected a reaming. Kathy leveled him a stare that said he was inches away from it. Then her shoulders dropped as she sighed.

"Why'd you blow it off, Jay? The other guys were in total fear of you. That contest could have been yours. _Why?_"

For a moment Jay stared off into the middle distance behind Kathy's right shoulder as though someone was holding up a team banner with the answer written on its back. Then he pursed his lips and met Kathy's stare with his own piercing blue gaze. "For the same reason why guys climb Mount Everest," he told her. When she merely gave him a baffled look he concluded his cryptic explanation:

"Because I fuckin' can."

And with that, Jay jumped on his board and rode off toward the skatepark's exit, away from the contest, away from his teammates and away from the only female in Dogtown who felt as though she really knew him. As she watched him veer out of sight behind a distant chain-link fence, Kathy Alva realized she knew almost nothing about him anymore, if she ever had at all.

**A/N:** Thanks to all who have read and reviewed so far. You know it's always appreciated! Sorry updates have been a little slow, I was out of town last week. And um, I know authors are not supposed to address specific reviews here, but let me just say this: If you want a story with lots of graphic Jay/Kathy sex then you'll have to write it yourself. Thank you and good evening.

BTW, if you can guess the last name of the Steve character in this chapter (he's based on a real person whose first name is Steve) then post it in a review so we can all praise you for being a true 70s skateboarder trivia whiz! -)


	4. Ch 4: Rocky Mountain Way

Chapter 4: Spent the last year Rocky Mountain way

**Late July 1977**

_Venice, CA_

Kathy's eyes blinked open as a strong ray of morning sunlight pierced her lids. Temporarily disoriented, she sat up and groggily shook her head, then squinted at her surroundings for a few seconds until she realized she was at Jay's house. But Jay himself was nowhere in evidence as she discovered when she groped around on his side of the bed and found it empty. She grumpily pulled the covers down and heavily swung her legs over the side of the bed, grimacing as her bare foot glanced off of something hard and metallic – a skateboard truck, she noted as she bent over to remove the offending object from her path. She dropped it among a pile of other skateboard hardware that resided on the large table by the wall, then headed for the bathroom to make her morning ablutions.

After she finished she pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, then prowled through the small apartment in search of Jay, but he was nowhere in evidence. Not that she really had to look to see if he was around; if he'd been there she would have known. Indeed, the whole building could tell when he was at home by the sound of his voice, which was usually cranked to 10. If the voice was absent, so was Jay. As she opened the refrigerator door and reached for the orange juice carton, Kathy realized she was glad for the rare moment of silence. When she turned to the opposite side of the kitchen to get a glass from the cabinet, she spied a note on the countertop, written in Jay's boyish handwriting: "Gone surfing at the Breakwater, be back by 10 at the latest," it promised. She glanced at the clock on the wall: 9:05. So he could yet live up to his promise, she reflected as she poured the juice.

After placing the carton back in the fridge, she took her glass outside and sat on the wooden steps to sip the juice in the already warm sunshine. As she consumed her liquid breakfast she strained her ears in the direction of the ocean three blocks away, trying to hear the waves. The only noises that reached her were the sounds of traffic and pedestrians on nearby Main Street. Then Blanca's strident voice broke her concentration.

"What's the haps, girl? Ya just getting up?"

Kathy threw her friend a half-hearted wave inviting her to come up the stairs and join her. "Yeah, pretty much. Just enjoying the silence before I go meet the guys at the Breakwater."

Blanca laughed, but understandingly. "I hear ya. It is pretty quiet without Jayboy's loud mouth goin' off huh?" As soon as the quip was out Blanca looked slightly crestfallen as though she was afraid she'd gone too far, but Kathy simply smiled crookedly and nodded her agreement. Blanca shook her head at her friend. "Man, I don't know how you keep up with him sometimes. That boy is wired 24-7."

Kathy drained her glass and set it down beside her with a thump. "I don't try to keep up with him. Just kick back and watch the fun."

"Yeah fine, but c'mon – it has to get old sometimes," Blanca probed. "It would for me, anyway."

"Good thing you two aren't going out then," Kathy replied evenly as she picked up her glass and got to her bare feet. Blanca shrugged and followed her inside.

After brushing her teeth and hair and washing her face, Kathy donned a pair of red and white striped flip-flops and grabbed her purse. "Ready to go?" she inquired without waiting for a reply from Blanca, who exited behind her as quietly as she'd entered.

The walk down to the beach was short and nearly silent. In an attempt to dispel the tension between them Blanca mentioned an upcoming show at the Santa Monica Civic, but only got a mild expression of interest in return. She was relieved when they got to the Breakwater vicinity and saw a fairly large group of people already hanging around, most of them fellow Venice locals. Among them was Tony, his curly mop still dripping seawater from his last ride. With a little cry of delight Blanca launched herself forward and into his arms, heedless of getting her outfit soaked. For once he didn't seem to mind her blatant public display of affection but merely laughed and held her close as she planted a big kiss on his cheek. Kathy scanned the group for her own boyfriend but he was nowhere in evidence. Looking out over their heads toward the sea, she spied him on the left edge of the lineup, waiting anxiously for the next set of waves.

Tony spied his sister and gestured for her to join them. She got verbal greetings and a few hugs from most of the guys – Paul Constantineau, Wentzle Ruml (acting slightly tipsy although it wasn't even 10am yet), Billy Yuron, Paul Hoffman and Ray Flores along with a number of other lesser lights of the scene, a few of the girls who loved them and the next generation of Dogtown skaters and surfers. Only two guys, both in their mid- or late-teens, were unfamiliar to Kathy but upon closer scrutiny she recognized one of them as Steve, the nervous skater at the Upland contest from last month. He still looked a little nervous now, probably from finding himself in the midst of so many Venice denizens; a crowd well known for its inherent and vicious localism. They were both standing close to Tony and taking their cues from him about when to laugh or look serious or just stay quiet (the most popular option at the moment), so Kathy guessed they were there at her brother's invitation.

A moment later Tony confirmed her suspicions. "Hey Kathy, this is Steve Alba and Chris Miller from Upland way. I'm thinking of sponsoring them so I invited 'em up here to see if they can hang with us."

"You should let Steve ride for you just 'cause his last name is one consonant off from ours," Kathy joked, making the subject of their chat shyly drop his big dark eyes down toward the sand as he dug little hole in it with the toe of his red Vans sneaker.

After catching up with everyone Kathy and Blanca decided to sit on the small causeway that led to the rocks of the Breakwater itself so they could get an excellent view of the action. Most of the non-surfers followed them across the sands, their conversation and occasional bursts of cackling laughter shredded into incomprehensible babble by the strong sea breeze. Tony, both Pauls and Ray returned to the water just as the next set was beginning to crank up. As soon as she and Blanca had found a suitable perch on one of the jagged rocks, Steve and Chris appeared next to her. "Can we uh, sit here?" Steve shyly inquired.

"Yeah sure, it's a free country," Kathy replied with a little shrug. The Uplanders looked at each other for a moment, then shrugged as well and gingerly set themselves down. A moment later Wentzle clambered onto the rock and plunked down close to Kathy's left, pulling out a silver whiskey flask from his wetsuit as he did so and wordlessly offering her a sip. She declined with a little laugh and shake of her head.

"Too early in the day for ya, huh?" Wentzle said with a chuckle. "Ah well, there wasn't a lot left anyway."

She threw him a wry smile. "There ya have it," she shot back offhandedly. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Blanca was looking a bit put out, probably more over being ignored by the original Zephyr skate team member than not getting a nip of booze. A dozen yards off to their left, Jay was just catching a decent wave, Tony and PC hot in his wake but not quite able to match him move for move. Kathy watched intently as he rode it until it began to crumble, making him steer himself over the crest and behind it just before it burned out short of the surf zone. He lowered himself to his stomach and paddled back out, seemingly oblivious to the watchers on the shore. Within two minutes he was charging a fresh wave, doing slick cutbacks and pulling a couple of quick berts, his right hand slicing through the wave's face and leaving a miniature wake which echoed the one made by his surfboard. His perfectly-executed run drew a smattering of applause from the watchers on the rocks and Kathy had to smile at the normally jaded Venice locals getting stoked watching her boyfriend surf.

She turned to Blanca. "Yeah, so Jay can be a loudmouth but it's times like this that make it all worth it. I wouldn't trade him for any other guy in Dogtown."

"He's probably even better than _my_ Tony," Blanca agreed expansively. Kathy noted the emphasis her friend had put on the word 'my', which was undoubtedly for the benefit of the younger single girls sitting nearby, who viewed mornings such as this as their chance to window-shop for a Dogtowner boyfriend. After shooting them a stern look Blanca turned back to Kathy and broached a new topic.

"Oh! Check it out, guess who I ran into at the pier yesterday? Tiffany Griffith!"

"No shit, Tuff Tiff? Is she visiting or back for good?"

"She's moved back. Guess she didn't like Denver as much as she thought she would. I didn't get the whole story from her about what went down but yeah, she and her mom are living in the same apartment building as before."

"Crazy. Wonder why I haven't run into her yet?"

"Probably because she's been hanging with the Mob guys ever since she got back. And they've been kinda keeping to themselves lately," Blanca pointed out.

Wentzle squinted out to sea pensively. "Holdin' out on us, man. Tuff Tiff, fuckin' A."

"Uh, 'the Mob'?" Steve dared to butt in.

"Not the mob as in Mafia, the Mob as in the guys who used to surf the old POP pier," Blanca hastened to inform him.

"Oh, right on."

"Yeah, don't nobody fuck with that crew. They're a little older and they rip," Wentz stated.

"More surfers than skaters," Kathy added. "Some of them were on the original Zephyr surf team."

His confusion alleviated, Steve nodded in understanding and turned his attention back to the surfing. Between sets Tony waded back onto the sands and shouted up to his sister: "Hey, Ray's having a barbeque at his place starting 'bout one or two o'clock. D'you and Jay have a way over there?"

Kathy shrugged. "Dunno, let me talk to him about it. Philane's in the islands but we can't find the keys to her car."

"Shit, that's a bummer. Well, let me know if you guys need a ride over there. I love driving my new carro, ya know."

Kathy grinned down at him. "You mean showing it off all over town. Oh hey, did you know that Tuff Tiff moved back?"

"Uh, I thought somebody said that earlier, yeah. So where the hell is she hiding out?"

"With the Mob guys," Blanca jumped in, eager to be included since she was the one who broke the news in the first place.

Tony's expression turned ever-so-slightly solemn for the briefest of moments, then he recovered his cocky grin. "That so? Well, maybe she'll remember who her original friends are and come hang out with us sometime."

"We all have a lot to catch up on since she left," Blanca stated in a bright tone.

Kathy glanced over at Jay, who was paddling hard to make an approaching wave. "Yeah. I'm sure Tiff will be very interested to know what's gone down around here in the past year," she murmured in a voice so low the crashing waves nearly drowned her words out entirely. Only Blanca heard her clearly and shot her a sidewise look. Heedless, her gaze still fixed on her boyfriend, Kathy continued:

"Yeah, Tiffany's going to find out that Venice really has changed. A lot."


End file.
